A Divine Mystery

 

 

“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them” (John 17:9 – 10).

 

“All things that the Father has are Mine” (16:15).

 

As we saw when contemplating John 16:12 – 15, all that the Father has, Jesus has, and all that Jesus has, we have. There is a unity of possession in the Trinity, a unity of Nature, a unity of Person. God is indivisible. This, of course, is a mystery. In the Incarnation, we see a unity of God and Man in the Person of Jesus Christ, yet another Divine mystery. In the Body of Christ there is a further unity, it is the unity of the Head and the Body, of the Bridegroom and His Bride, once again, a mystery into which we can only see so far; we can experience more than we can see and understand, but this is nearly always the case (if not always) in our life in Christ and with one another in Him.

 

There is a sense in which, while the Father gave us to Jesus, that we already belonged to Jesus, because all that the Father has, Jesus has; and all that Jesus has, the Father has. Perhaps this is akin to a husband and wife who have a beautiful flower garden. The flowers belong to both wife and husband; they both have full possession of the land and the flowers. Can you see the husband in the flower garden, carefully choosing and picking flowers for his wife? Can you then see the husband giving the bouquet of carefully picked and arranged flowers to his beloved? Can we hear the wife say, “Thank you dear husband for giving me these beautiful flowers. Thank you for your love and thoughtfulness”?

 

The flowers always belonged to both husband and wife. Yet, in a true sense the husband also gave the flowers to his beloved spouse and she accepted them.

 

When we acknowledge that all that the Father has, the Son also has; and that all that the Son has, the Father also has (and that this unity is also true of the Holy Spirit), it can strengthen our vision of the Holy One and enable us to more clearly “see” the invisible, having deepening faith in Him. It will also hopefully give us an assurance of our salvation in our Rock, Jesus Christ. After all, if we have belonged to the Father, and if the Father has given us to the Son, there is nothing, there is no one, there is no thing, that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:31 – 39).

 

Yesterday in Paris, thieves broke into the Louvre in the daytime and stole some of France’s precious crown jewels. The theft took about four minutes. Do we really suppose that the Father would allow an enemy to steal His treasures? To break into His heavenly domain, His Temple, into His Family Home, and steal those who are precious to Him, those who have been purchased by the life blood of His Son?

 

Do we think that the Son does not protect those whom the Father has given to Him in holy trust (John 17:11 – 12)? Do we dare to think that the Bridegroom allows His Bride to be violated? O dear friends, while we may not understand all that goes on around us, while we may not have much understanding and vision amid the present chaos, let us never doubt our God, let us never cease to behold and receive His love for us in Christ, let us never give place to the enemy for a moment – for frankly all of life, all of our lives, comes down to this – the Nature and Character of God. Can we, do we, trust Him?

 

When Jesus says, “I have been glorified in them,” we are taken back to a previous meditation in which we asked, “How can this be?” This can be because we belong to God. This can be because of the love and work of Jesus Christ. This can be because what Jesus begins His completes. This can be because we belong to Jesus Christ, we are no longer our own, we have been bought with a price.

 

O the blessed assurance to know that the Father has given us to Jesus, to know that we belong to Jesus and that we are no longer our own – we have been bought by the blood of the Lamb and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (21)

 

 

“All who belong to the body of Christ have been freed from and called out of the world. They must become visible to the world not only through the communal bond evident in the church-community’s order and worship, but also through the new communal life among brothers and sisters in Christ” (page 219).

 

Bonhoeffer then writes that when members of the Body are despised, that we will serve them; if they are the objects of violence, we will help them; if they are subjected to insult that we will sacrifice our honor for them. We will renounce gain for the sake of others, we will protect from exploitation, we will show compassion, we will speak the truth and not lie, we will raise our voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

 

“For the sake of brothers and sisters…Christians will renounce all community with the world, for they serve the community of the body of Jesus Christ…They have been called out of the world and follow Christ” (page 219).

 

What do we make of Bonhoeffer’s approach, which is grounded in Scripture?

 

How do we, as individuals, families, churches, and institutions measure up?

 

Do we forget that the very term “church,” means those who are “called out”? Do we ignore the statements of Jesus concerning us that, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:13 – 16; see also John 15:18 – 16:4)?

 

Are we living as those who have been called out of the world to live in community with one another in Jesus Christ? Do our bonds in Christ define us, rather than our economic, political, national, racial, ethnic, and social identities? Do we see one another in Christ, and only in Christ?

 

Since I live in the United States, I will address those of us who live in my earthly country, but its application is worldwide. We, the professing church, have a shameful history of failing to renounce the world and failing to live in Christian community; to ignore that history is to likely ignore our present shame. In fact, we have often gone beyond shame and employed the disgusting practice of using the Bible to justify our ungodly actions.

 

Right now, I am thinking of the Bible school I briefly attended in the 1960s that used the Bible to justify segregation – thank God the school expelled me. I am also thinking of theologians and pastors who employ their gifts to justify economic hedonism, foreign policies that result in the wholesale destruction of life, the terrible treatment of strangers seeking refuge which clearly is a violation of Biblical commands and standards, and the continued marginalization of those who cannot speak for themselves.

 

Yes, for sure there is a minority of faithful brothers and sisters that live counter to our American Christian self-centered culture, but we marginalize them and dare not give them a voice, lest our entire way of life change and we exchange the “good life” for the Cross of Jesus Christ. In essence, we live with blinders on, sealing ourselves off from those who need us, stopping our ears, covering our eyes, hardening our hearts.

 

Consider the monolithic character of most of our churches. Congregations tend to be the same economically, racially, politically, socially, and culturally. There is little, if anything, supernatural about the nature of our local congregations. While this may be understandable in rural areas due to the lack of local diversity, it is inexcusable in areas with a varied population. Yes, again there are exceptions, but they are few. Jesus Christ does not attract us to one another, our worldly sameness attracts us, it provides us with the apparent safety of the world’s status quo, it seals us off from one another, and it allows us to practice our self-centered, non-sacrificial, American brand of syncretistic religion.

 

Let’s remind ourselves that Bonhoeffer writes from a position of privilege. He was raised in an environment of economic security, academic and professional accomplishment, and high culture. The Bonhoeffer family moved in the upper echelons of German society. Yet, Bonhoeffer saw that something was wrong, and as German Nationalism consumed the hearts and souls of German society and the professing church in Germany, Bonhoeffer stood virtually alone and spoke the truth in Christ. The drama of the truth is greater than any fiction, few stood with Bonhoeffer, very few. Bonhoeffer saw that there must be a Biblical break with the world in order to live in church-community in Christ.  

 

It is disgusting that some American Christians distort Bonhoeffer’s life and teaching to justify American nationalism, the ill treatment of others, and violence against others – native born and the stranger.

 

Yes, yes, this is a hard subject to think about, and it comes with a price, for the Cross is an offense, obedience to Jesus Christ offends people, including religious people. We want nothing to impinge on our “right” to get what we can and keep what we can and to ignore the suffering and needs of those around us.

 

But I think that if we could only see the glory of Jesus Christ in His Body, His People, our neighbors in Christ, that we would gladly surrender what we have and who we are to Jesus and open our hearts to others. O friends, this life will soon be over and what fools we are to live as if it won’t, what fools not to realize that we have a calling and opportunity to live for Jesus and others, to live in the Kingdom and not in the world-system.

 

If we would only attempt to know others the scales would fall from our eyes and, I think, we would behold Jesus as never before; behold Him in our brothers and sisters.

 

Well, we can’t control what others do, but we can each decide to follow Jesus and lay down our lives for Him and others. If our families go with us – wonderful! If our congregations go with us – let us be encouraged! If we have one or two friends who we can walk with – let us rejoice! And if…if it must be that we walk alone, let us be comforted, for in Jesus Christ we are never alone, for He will never leave us or forsake us – and we know that He awaits us, at the right hand of the Father, to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!”

 

“To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

 

“No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).